A Weekend of Walking

My pedometer was my best friend this weekend. It went everywhere with me. In order to avoid another apartment catastrophe (my ankle still hurts actually), I decided I would spend my time scoping out the apartment ahead of time. Let’s just say I’m really glad I did this. I had already hit the recommended 10,000 steps by the time I actually found the place. The area seemed nice and I even passed by the circus, which happens to be town. Since I was in the area, I decided to head to the Reeperbahn next. For those of you that don’t know, this is the red-light area. I’m definitely glad I chose to go at high noon. But aside from seeing drunk men and passed out women with their pants at their ankles, I also got to see boob slippers and “Have you seen my Frankfurter?” aprons – complete with Frankfurter if you know what I mean. After that tour, I made my way to the harbor. It was a beautiful day and so many people were out enjoying it. I did wish I had some company aside from my special pedometer that hit 22,500+ steps at the end of the day. I found a restaurant that served only soup and just kept walking. Along my walk, I also picked up some exciting things like nail polish remover, face wash, and some thin gloves. My body started to ache once I hit 18k, but I knew if I stopped I would never be able to start again. I made it my hotel room and fell asleep half on the chair with my shoes on. Saturday was another night in resting. The good thing about walking solo was that I was able to keep the coughing to myself and the talking to a minimum.

I still haven’t made my way to church yet and today was no exception. The timing didn’t work with my apartment meeting. I arrived an hour early—I wasn’t taking any chances. So I killed some time at a bakery and, you guessed it, more walking. I rang the bell right at noon, after meeting a very sweet little boy name Theo who was jumping on a nearby trampoline. I was quickly invited inside and we went right up to the room. I will jump in and say that I’ve opened my search from whole apartments to rooms as well. The room was huge and modestly furnished. It included a washing machine and a full bathroom. What threw me for a loop was that a bed was not included and that I could share the kitchen with the woman/child/dog of the house if I wanted. Well, I do like warm food from time to time. I was a little disappointed because I thought this could have worked, but it just didn’t feel right. Plus, just as we finished our tour another woman came to look and she absolutely loved it. She seemed like she didn’t eat a lot of warm meals though. It was the first time the woman was renting out the room, so it seemed like there were a few kinks to work out. It would have been nice to kind of live with a dog though. Sadly enough I didn’t even get to the see the dog! So I made my way back to the hotel with a detour to find my immigration lawyer’s office in preparation for Tuesday’s meeting. Today I only logged 16,500+ steps. My hips are feeling it though. Between the walking and the coughing, I am one giant walking ache.

Sunday was also a little sad for me because I was missing a wedding shower back at home. My mom and sister generously offered to take lots of pictures and videos though. (And they turned out great! Yay for Em and Joe!). In order to take my mind off of what I was missing, I decided I should probably eat dinner. You’ll notice my food reviews are all over the place and that would be because I have a very strange appetite at the moment. My body is still a little confused with the time change, the cultural norms, and the sickness. I walked around for and hour and a half without finding anything that I wanted to eat. I ended up back at Mama for some pasta. I didn’t want pizza again, so I went with pasta. I wasn’t exactly sure what I ordered, but it had more to do with my lack of Italian vs my lack of German. I wasn’t entirely in the mood for dining alone, but what can you do? I’ve really only ever eaten in a restaurant by myself in Europe and it doesn’t seem as bad. However, I had no reading materials or phone to play with. So, what to do when you’re a little bit lonely/sad and feeling unwell? Watch Marley & Ich (Marley & Me) of course! This wasn’t even the first time I saw it, but I just couldn’t help the tears. Dogs are the best.